As been said by other reviewers, a seminal but flawed work. A must-read for every student of cultural studies, colonial/post-colonial studies and even history. The flaws include overgeneralisation and lack of nuance - the author does seem to be more interested in rhetoric and scoring a (valid) ideological points. For thorough review (both criticism and praise) I'd recommend "Reading orientalism : Said and the unsaid" ( )

A literary/philosophical analysis of perceptions of 'the Orient' as something different, exotic, passionate, religious, and inferior.

The Orient as it was, was thought of as such - in many ways- since the Crusades, perhaps before, and all the way up to the Ottoman Empire. But as the Europeans became colonial powers, perceptions continued to influence action.

Im curious over why the author omitted German sources, and possible perceptions of West v. East Europe - the multiethnic Habsburg Empire, and the Russian 'yellow peril'. Or of Wilhelm the Second's mad dreams.

And I am curious as to perceptions of the West by East, as well. was it always an overbearing threat?

This fiery criticism of colonial attitudes has more or less been integrated into modern post-colonial discourse. This is a seminal, if flawed work. ( )

Said traces the history of contact between the West and the East and the resulting construction of the Orient as an area of study for Western scholars. Westerners come to believe that they understand the East and its occupants better than they understand themselves. This privileged knowledge is used to further the interests of the West in conquering or controlling these regions. Said had been attacked for his opposition to Israel's handling of the Palestinian question.

Since the book was written in 1978 one might expect it to be outdated, but the events of the past two decades illustrate that Western powers continue to attribute the actions of Easterners (especially Muslims) to irrational cultural attributes rather than to rational self interest.

It is interesting that the older portrayal of the Muslim male as lecher surrounded by multiple wives and lithesome concubines has been partly reversed to an image of Islam as anti-sex with morality police roaming the streets in search of a flash of ankle or strand of hair for which a woman can be whipped.

They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented. -Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis BonapartThe East is a career. -Benjamin Disraeli, Tancred

Dedication

For Janet and Ibrahim

First words

On a visit to Beirut during the terrible civil war of 1975-1976 a French journalist wrote regretfully of the gutted downtown area that, "it had once semed to belong to . . . the Orient of Chateaubriand and Nerval."

The author presents a critique of the Western World's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East and Arab people. In this study, the author traces the origins of the West's concept of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East.… (more)